By and For Those With Private Disability Claims

Social Security Administration and Surveillance

Thanks to today’s Friday Q&A, a very helpful attorney emailed information regarding the Social Security Administration’s ramping up of surveillance. Although this has been a hot topic to DCS, Inc in the past, information has been incredibly scarce to pass on. I am indeed indebted to the source of this information since it will probably answer many questions for Lindanee’sBlog readers as well as the general public. Most of this blog post was actually written by the source of information. Thanks!

According to a reliable source, the Social Security Administration is increasing its surveillance of citizens using the Cooperative Disability Investigations Unit or CDIU. Established in 1998, CDIU is composed of employees from SSA, Office of the Inspector General (OIG) and local law enforcement. There are about 25 CDIU units so far nationwide, and SSA and the OIG are aggressively lobbying for more units.

CDIU units are designed to detect fraud and investigate cases brought to its attention by SSA claim representatives, the public, disgruntled neighbors…a worthy goal as long as the truly disabled are not caught in the dragnet.

Readers who are approached by someone asking detailed questions about identity theft, should be aware it’s probably an undercover CDIU agent. They submit Reports of Investigation into the claimant’s file even if no fraud is found. Investigative reports are attempts to decimate the client’s credibility before the ALJ (Administrative Law Judge). More and more claimants are having SSA benefits terminated on the basis of these investigations, but worse, claimant’s find themselves in tough situations because attorneys are reluctant to represent them.

Even some ALJs have questioned the reliability of the CDI’s one-hour undercover investigations and have requested the following changes:

A longer period of surveillance tailored to the claimant’s alleged impairments would provide more complete evidence on some cases.

Only factual observations about the claimant’s abilities identified during the investigation should be included in the investigative report. For example, when the claimant is observed walking only one block, the investigative report should not conclude the claimant can walk long distances.

Specific details of the investigation, such as the length of time the claimant was observed the distance the claimant walked, or the size of objects lifted should be reported in the investigative report.

Standards applied to the CDI Unit’s observations should be placed in proper perspective. For example, investigative reports that indicate the claimant’s pace and gait were normal should provide a context for normal, such as pace and gait were similar to other people walking near the claimant.

Documents that support statements made in the investigative report should be presented for consideration. For example, the investigative report states that medical evidence submitted by the medical provider for a different claimant was very similar to the medical evidence for the claimant under investigation, which could indicate duplicative use of medical evidence. therefore, the CDI unit should provide the medical evidence from the other case to support their statement.

Although it doesn’t surprise me the Feds are chipping into the information highway and surveillance, it does somewhat bother me that those claimants who are attempting to defraud the government are making the process terrible for everyone. As an experienced disability claims consultant I also know only too well how jaded and misrepresented surveillance opinions could be when reviewed by inexperienced bureaucrats. Finally, our taxes are now used to add yet another level of investigation to SSDI and SSI.

While I agree that those who abuse the system should be caught, I am also of the opinion innocent claimants will be denied benefits they themselves paid for. After all, SSDI is not like private disability insurance and the government owes back to the American people what they were forced to pay in via FICA withholding taxes.

I hope the above information answers many of the questions asked about SSA and surveillance. Thanks again to the attorney for providing the above information.